RESTRICTED FILES - DO NOT OPEN

Abby ignored the warning label as she pried open the filing cabinet. Flipping through the files, she hummed as one popped out at her.

THOMAS ANDERSON

FEAR OF BUGS

FIREARM DETECTED IN HOUSEHOLD

CATEGORY: UNSCAREABLE

"Fear of bugs, huh?" Abby smirked. "Well, Thomas. You and I are about to make history."

Abigail Hardscrabble crashed unceremoniously through the glass doors of the factory, looking wildly around. The factory was alive and bustling with the night shift, but no sign of Abby in sight. Where could that girl have gone? No, the better question was: where would she herself go? If she had been rejected, abandoned? The answer was simple, but frightening.

She would prove that she was worthy of that love. She would do anything it took, no matter how reckless. And so would Abby.

With that terrifying thought, Abigail rushed through the hall, stumbling into protesting scarers without a second thought. She had to get to that room. She hoped Abby wouldn't be that stupid, but to her dismay she found the room ransacked.

Abby had been here, and she had rifled through the restricted files. One was missing.

Abigail shot out of the door and down the hall to the nearest empty scare floor. There she found Abby, having just called down the closet door to the human world. She was looking at the restricted file in question when she glanced up and met Abigail's eyes.

Rage built between them.

Then a race began.

Abigail lunged, but Abby was faster. The younger slammed on the lockdown button, trapping the elder past the gate. Abigail scratched and clawed at the metal, yelling at Abby. "Stop! Don't go in there! It's dangerous! You don't know what you're doing!"

Eyes full of fire and a tint of fear, Abby's hand hovered over the doorknob. Then, steeling herself, she ripped the door open and disappeared.

"NO!" Abigail screamed, throwing herself against the gate.

The boy's room was nothing special. Green army men surrounded the young monstress, as if they were a flimsy defense. But an advanced scarer like her scuttled past them with expertise. She made sure to make just enough noise to rouse the child.

And rouse he did. Abby blended into the shadows as he looked around. Then she darted to the other side of the room, making sure he knew a bug was here.

"Hello?" he whimpered, shaking in his sheets. "Who's there?"

Abby chose that moment to quietly advance, letting the light pour over her body inch by inch. The boy turned his head up and up until he finally met her silver eyes.

Then she roared.

And the boy produced the most wonderful scream. Her hiss/roar combination was just convincing enough to show that she was a big bug, and she meant business. She let up slowly, smirking. Surely the scream canister was overflowing by now. Who said this kid was unscareable? Newbies?

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal the father with a pistol in hand.

Abby knew she had to move. Her best bet was to retreat back to the shadows, or try to escape back to the monster world. But she couldn't move an inch. She was frozen in fear.

The man raised the gun, and time slowed down.

He squeezed the trigger. Abby shielded herself with her hands. A blur came flying out of the closet door and pinned her to the ground.

Time sped up. Abby was aware of two things: a searing pain in her arm, and Dean Hardscrabble hovering over her.

"He got you," Hardscrabble whispered faintly, looking at her wet arm. She looked...worried. Scared, even. Then the man reloaded the gun and that look twisted into pure fury.

Rearing up and extending her wings, Hardscrabble roared in the man's face. It wasn't a low roar; she screamed in anger and flung out her claws. The gun hit the wall and clattered to the floor. Recognition flaring in his eyes, the man fell to the floor, . "It's you," he cried. "M-m-my m-monster!"

Hardscrabble screamed another roar, berserk with rage. She threw her hand up, claws gleaming in the moonlight. She was only stopped by a hand clamping onto her wrist.

"No! You can't leave a mark!" Abby shouted, holding her mother back.

Abigail's eyes returned to normal at the sound of her daughter's voice. Turning around, she held Abby's face in her hands and looked into her eyes. She seemed to calm simply at the sight of Abby, alive.

"Let's get out of here," Abby said.

Abigail smiled. Suddenly she looked over to the father, who was picking up his gun with shaking hands. Abigail pulled her wings over her daughter and scooped her up, making a hasty retreat from the room. The gun went off as they flew out, Abigail bracing them against the door so the threat could not escape into the monster world.

Neither of them noticed the crowd gathered around them, both still panting from the experience. Abby was about to say something when she felt something wet against her side. She gasped.

"You're shot," she whispered.

Abigail harrumphed. "It's going to take a lot more than a bullet to take me down."

Unable to restrain herself, Abby replied smartly, "I'll keep that in mind."

The dean smirked at her, then looked over her shoulder. "Oh. Look at that."

Abby peered over her mother's wing. Sitting prettily in the scream intake chamber sat a full canister of scream energy.

"Your first scream canister," Abigail hummed, nothing but pride in her voice. "And I think I know the perfect place for it."

"Dean Hardscrabble- are you hurt?" a paramedic asked, the first to come forward. Abigail rewarded him with a shriek.

Abby gently touched her mother's lapel. "You have to go," she murmured worriedly. "You're hurt."

Abigail looked at her helplessly. "They'll separate us."

"What, the great Dean Hardscrabble can't demand for us to be in the same room?" Abby asked dryly, lifting a brow.

"I'll make sure you're together," a voice came. They both looked up to see a familiar face to the both of them. But, for one, one sorely missed.

"Bonnie," Abigail whispered. The snake monstress leveled her with a careful look, neither warm nor cold. Then she nodded.

Paramedics then swooped in, separating mother and daughter and lifting them onto stretchers. Abigail locked eyes with her former lover, until a certain young monstress broke her gaze.

"Don't worry, Mummy, I'll make sure you're all taken care of!"

"Arabella," Abigail breathed in relief, reaching for her daughter. She held a hand against Arabella's cheek, smiling warmly. Then her eyes fell to her dress. "Arabella?! What is this? Why do you have blood on your clothes?!"

Arabella simply smiled. "Long story. See you when you wake up!"

Abigail clawed through the paramedics' anesthesia and called Arabella's name until she fell under.

The white room was a blur when Abigail first opened her eyes. As she blinked, it slowly came into focus. She was in a hospital room, laying on a hospital bed. Her stomach beat with a dull pain.

"You're finally awake," came a dry voice. "I'll alert the media. They've been camped outside the hospital for three days."

Abigail looked over to see her youngest daughter laying in the bed next to hers. Abby looked exhausted, but otherwise all right. Her arm was bandaged with thick stripes of gauze.

"Abigail," the dean muttered blearily. "How are you feeling?"

"My arm is sore, and I'm going stir crazy, but otherwise I'm in perfect health." Abby still didn't meet her eyes, instead choosing to stare straight ahead. "More than I can say for you. Doctors say you're gonna be bedridden for a long time."

"Wonderful." Abigail rolled her eyes. When Abby didn't say anything more, she paused. There was so much to say...but how to say it all? "Abigail, I owe you an apology."

"Look, I get it, it's fine," Abby said unexpectedly. "I've been thinking about it a lot these past three days. And I totally get why you don't want or love me. It's fine. I can learn to live with it. And I won't do any more dangerous shit to get your attention. I'm going to focus on school and my career. So you don't have to worry."

Abigail blinked. "Well, I'm glad to hear you won't be putting yourself in more danger. But I'm afraid you're wrong."

"What?" Abby hissed, turning to look at her for the first time.

"You're wrong," Abigail said simply. "I do love you. And I always have. From the minute I knew of you, I have loved you." While Abby blinked in shock, she continued. "And that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You are my daughter, Abigail, and nothing will change that. But I was always too proud to tell you that. You were right, I was concerned about how I would look with children from an affair. What I should have been concerned with was you, and how you felt. You felt rejected, unwanted, but nothing could be further from the truth. And you deserve to know the truth, all of it. So here it is: I love you, and your brother, and your mother. And I am absolutely terrified by it."

"Even Mama?" Abby wondered.

"More than you know." Abigail closed her eyes, sighing. "I never once stopped loving her. She was always in my thoughts, in my dreams. I made excuses to 'bump into her' just to see her. I was always so cruel to her. Afraid of my own feelings, I suppose. I'm surprised she even looks at me now."

Abby stared at her for a few moments, mulling over her words. Then she rose from her bed, approaching the dean's bed. Her claws folded over each other as she stood nervously, unsure how to ask the question.

Abigail seemed to read her mind, her mouth twisting up at the corners. She opened her arms and made room on the bed. Abby crawled under the sheets, snuggling up against Abigail's side. Abigail stroked her head.

"So it's true, then," Abby murmured in awe.

"Every word," Abigail chuckled. "And, Abigail? Your roar was perfect."

"No, you're right, I have a little hiss. We'll just have to work on it."

"I would be glad to. Abigail...I want to be part of your life. Would you let me?"

Abby smiled, closing her eyes. "It's Abby, okay?"

"Abby, then."

The door opened to reveal Arabella, basket of goodies in hand. When she saw the sight on Abigail's bed, she almost squealed in excitement. "Oh my goodness! Mummy! And Abby! Oh, I have to get a picture of this!" Arabella retrieved a camera from her bag and, quick as a flash, the camera went off. Both Abigails grumbled in protest but knew Arabella would never delete the photo.

"Soooo? Did you guys work it out? Can we be a family?" Arabella asked excitedly, bouncing on her feet as Nate and Bonnie entered. The Abigails blinked, exchanged looks, and blushed.

"Arabella," Abigail said gently. "It's more complicated than that. What about your father?"

Arabella's grin slid from her face. She looked back at Bonnie, who smiled and nodded in encouragement. Taking a deep breath, Arabella sat down on the edge of the bed. "Mummy...I have something to tell you."

Abigail listened. She heard all about how her so-called "husband" had been manipulating, berating, and even threatening their young daughter behind her back. Arabella had grown up thinking she was flawed, that she was a disgrace to Abigail, and that Abigail did not love her. Arabella's scars were from herself, not from an intruder, because she had been so distraught over herself that she had clawed herself up. When Derek raised his hand to her, her son had stepped in. But it was Arabella who ended it, stabbing him in the eye with a pin.

To say Abigail was not pleased was the understatement of the century.

But she immediately calmed when Arabella flinched in fear. No, Derek's punishment would have to wait. Arabella needed to know that her mother was not angry with her.

Abigail pulled her daughter close and wrapped her arms around her.

"Arabella. Listen to me. You are not a disgrace. You are a beautiful, incredibly gifted monstress. I love you and nothing will change that. You did a very, very brave thing and I am so proud of you."

Arabella sniffed, breaking out of the embrace to meet Abigail's eyes with watery ones. Her mother put a hand on her cheek, looking pained. "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered in despair.

"I thought you agreed with him," Arabella wept.

"Oh, Arabella." Abigail embraced her again, rubbing her back soothingly as Arabella burst into tears. "Shh. It's okay, darling. Let it out."

Once her tears had dried, Abigail pulled away but kept a hand on hers. "Arabella, sweetheart, if you ask it, I will personally make sure he never even sees you again. Is that something you want?"

"I...I don't know," Arabella whimpered. "This is all so much..."

"I understand. For now, though, until I recover, would you mind too terribly if I separated you?"

"That's fine...you need to focus on getting better. You can't worry about me."

"Arabella, I will worry about you until my dying breath. And I promise, it won't all be boring. What would you say about your brother and sister staying with us?"

Arabella blinked the tears from her eyes, and her mouth slowly turned up. "Really? You're saying...we- we're all going to be a family?" she piped hopefully.

"Whoa, whoa." Abigail stopped her daughter before she got ahead, her brows as high as they would go. "A family? All of us?"

"Yes! Me, Abby, Nate, you, and Ms. Flint!" Arabella looked back to smile at Bonnie, who turned her mouth up awkwardly in return. Abigail simply stared at her. "Arabella, there's no- we're rushing- Ms. Flint would never-"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've already patched things up between you two! Just like making a stitch," Arabella replied cheerfully, motioning with her hands. "She's not mad at you anymore, and we've decided we have lots of mother/step-daughter bonding to catch up on!"

"Has she really," Abigail asked weakly, meeting Bonnie's eyes with a plea in her eyes.

Bonnie answered the plea with a sigh as she slithered forward. "I don't know if I'm not mad anymore, but," she glanced at Abigail, "I'm willing to give it a shot. If you are."

Abigail swallowed. "You're more than welcome at my home. I just hope...I don't end up disappointing you again."

Bonnie smirked at this, deciding to rattle the elder monstress even more. She swayed forward in a flirty manner. "Don't worry," she purred, trapping a defenseless Abigail under her arm as their eyes met. "I think I know your most disappointing parts by now."